Razor strop



July 6, 1937. A. F. STAPLES,

RAZOR STROP Filed July 13, 1936 INVEETOR ATTORNEY coooc 'oock Patented July 6, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT Claims.

This invention relates to hand razor strops and more especially to such razor strops suitable for use in sharpening safety razor blades.

Generally speaking the invention relates to that 5 type of razor strop which is supported upon the hand of a user in a position wherein the razor blade may be brought into the most advantageous engagement with the strop by a turning of the hand to meet the usual to and fro movement.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a hand razor strop which is firmly supported in a fixed position but may be yieldingly supported so that in all the changing relative positions of the strop and razor during the stropping operation 5 the strop will consistently present to the blade stroke the same progressively depressed surface as is presented by a wall supported strop.

To the accomplishment of this object and such others as may hereinafter appear, as will readily 9 be understood by those skilled in the art, the invention comprises the features and combinations of parts hereinafter described and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The nature and scope of the invention will best be understood from adescription of the preferred embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view, on a reduced scale, showing the improved razor strop supported in operative position on the slightly bent hand of a user;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly broken away, of one end of the improved razor strop;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the end of the razor strop as shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view of the under side of the strop at the opposite end thereof from that shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view at the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention I0 indicates, in general, the improved razor strop which, in this instance, includes a strapping strip II of leather or other suitable material, the

length thereof being somewhat less than the distance from the finger tip I2 to the wrist I3. Thus the palm is slightly cupped'when the strop is mounted on the hand, the strip II being free of the palm and fingers. In order that the strop may be controlled to move as a unit with changing positions of the hand, one end of the strip: I I is attached to the finger tip I2 and its other end is attached to the wrist or base of the hand I3.

For this purpose a piece of flexible material I 4,

which may be soft leather, is applied to the under face I5 of the strip II at its outer end I6 preferably by stitching around its outer end as at IT,

I8 and I9 forming a socket. The socket piece I4 is Wider than the strip I I and considerably wider at its inner edge 28 which is. left unstitched so 5 that a finger pocket 2I is formed on the back of the strip at its outer end It, the mouth of the pocket facing inward. A wrist strap 23 is secured to the inner end 22 of the strip I I by having one end 24' thereof stitched or otherwise secured 10 across it. The free portion 25 of the Wrist strap thus extends laterally from the strip I I and is of such a length as to encircle the wrist I3. A plurality of spaced openings 26 are formed in the strap any one of which may be engaged with a 15 lacing hook 2?, set in its secured end 24. It will be understood that the openings 26 provide for the adjustment of the strap for encircling wrists of varying sizes.

In use one of the fingers, preferably the middle finger, is inserted in the pocket 2I and the strip I I forming the strop body is laid across the palm of the hand which is cupped to bring the end 22 of the strip into positionv at the wrist where it is secured by the strap 23. The hand strop will be made in sizes so that a strop length may be chosen that will be suitable for the length of the hand of any user. In any event the position of thestropping strip on the hand should be such as to cause it to bridge across between the finger tip and wrist thus holding it away from the palm of the hand when the hand is opened and the strop V is tautened. In this position the strop will yield as a razor blade is brought into strapping contact therewith, thus preserving the advantages of a wall strop. If the strip I I is made so long that when secured at the Wrist it lies against the palm and fingers an uneven. surface is presented to the razor blade which is detrimental to sharpening its edge.

Due to the fact that both ends of the strip II are secured in a manner to hold the strop taut over the cupped palm of one hand, the user is free to flex that wrist during the blade stropping operation thereby to turn that hand and the at- 45 tached strop as a unit and present the strop at the precise angle for the most effective sharpening sweep of the blade held in the other hand. Thus the hand stropof this invention may be manipulated for presentation to the razor blade 0 in the same efficient manner as when using a Wall strop.

When the strop-ping strip H is relatively thin and quite flexible the insertion of the finger into the pocket 2I Will cause its end to bend around 55 the finger and flex out of its flat condition. In order to prevent such bending and to provide a flat stropping surface clear to the outer end of the strop so as to permit stropping contact by the blade edge from end to end as the latter is passed over the stro-p, a piece of relatively stiff sheet material 28 such as thin fibre board is ap plied to the under face of the strip I l beneath the pocket forming member l4. Obviously the stiffening member 28 need not be wider than the strip H or longer than the finger pocket and may conveniently be attached to the strip H by the same stitching that is used in attaching the flexible piece M. In any event the stiffening member 28 lying between the strip H and the finger inserted in the pocket 2| will preserve flatness at the outer end of the strip thereby insuring a uniform engagement by the edge of the blade throughout its travel back and forth.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated, and its preferred embodiment, operation and use having been specifically described, what is claimed as new, is:

1. A razor strop adapted to be secured to the human hand, comprising a strip of stropping material having a surface adapted to be presented for substantially its entire area for stropping purposes, a piece of flexible material secured at a plurality of its edges to the edges of the sides and one end of said strip opposite the stropping surface, the securement at the sides being for substantially the entire length of the piece, said piece being Wider than said strip whereby the same is bulged with respect to said strip to form a flexible pocket adapted to receive a finger of the users hand and conform to the shape thereof to hold the adjacent end of said stropping strip to the hand.

2. A razor strop adapted to be secured to the human hand, comprising a strip of stropping material having a surface adapted to be presented for substantially its entire area for stropping purposes, a piece of non-metallic flexible material secured at a plurality of its edges to the edges 7 of the sides and one end of said stripopposite the stropping surface, said piece being wider than said strip whereby the same is bulged with respect to said strip to form a flexible pocket adapted to receive a finger of the user's hand and conform to the shape thereof to hold the adjacent end of said stropping strip to the hand, and a piece of relatively stiff material inserted between said strip and piece adapted to substantially hold said strip against deformation at said end of the strip.

3. A razor strap to be supported over the palm of the hand comprising a strip of stropping leath-' -er having a finger receiving pocket on its rear face at its outer end and a wrist strap at its inner end, one side of said finger pocket being formed by said outer end of the stropping strip and its other side being formed by a piece of flexible sheet material 'of such length as to enclose the end of a finger, said sheet material being slightly wider than the stropping strip and lying against the rear face of the stropping strip at said outer end and marginally secured thereto except across its wider inner transverse edge thereby causing said inner edge to bulge and to present an open pocket mouth facing the inner end of the stroping strip.

4. A razor strop according to claim 3 having a piece of relatively stiff sheet material within the pocket for reinforcing the outer end of the stropping strip inserted between the stropping strip and said piece of sheet material and preventing it from curving about a finger inserted in said pocket.

5. A razor strep adapted to be secured to the hand and wrist, comprising a stropping strip, a piece of flexible sheetmaterial overspreading and secured against the outer end of said strip on the side disposed adjacent the hand and forming therewith a pocket having an open inner end and aclosed outer .end for receiving the end of one of the fingers thereby disposing said strip lengthwise of the hand, and means at the inner end of said strip for-securing said end to the Wrist. r i

ALBERT F. STAPLES. 

